tamil literature and indian culture - e

TAMIL LITERATURE
AND
INDIAN CULTURE
Dr. V. Rajesh
Features of Tamil Language
►Spoken
in
Tamilnadu,
the southern
most state in
India.
Features of Tamil Language
► Belong
to the Dravidian family of
languages.
► One of the classical languages of
India.
► The earliest written record is TamilBrahmi inscriptions dated to 3rd
century BCE.
► Possess the oldest literature among
the Dravidian languages known as
‘Sangam’ literature dated between 3rd
century BCE to 3rd century CE.
‘Sangam’ Literature
EIGHT ANTHOLOGIES (ettuthogai)
 Narrinai
 Kurunthogai
 Ainkurunuru
 Akananuru
 Purananuru
 Pathirruppathu
 Kalithogai
 Paripadal
‘Sangam’ Literature
TEN SONGS (pathuppattu)
►Tirumurugarruppadai
►Porunarruppadai
►Perumpanarruppadai
►Sirupanarruppadai
►Malaipadukadam
►Pattinappalai
►Mullaippattu
►Kurincipattu
►Nedunalvadai
►Maduraikanchi
‘Sangam’ Literature
TOLKAPPIYAM
►Tol
(old)
►Kappiyam
(kavya)
Literary Conventions of Sangam
Poetry
► Classified
into,
 Akam
(interior, private, love poems)
 Puram
(exterior, public, war poems)
Literary Conventions of Sangam Poetry
contd…
► Tinai
Concept. Five fold geography of
Akam poems namely,
 Kurinchi (mountainous tracts)
 Mullai (Forest tracts)
 Marutam (River valleys)
 Neytal (Coastal tracts)
 Palai (barren tracts) is unique to
Tamil literature.
Contents of Sangam Literature
► Akam
poems are love poems. They
are further classified into
 Premarital love (kalavu)
 Wedded love (karpu)
Contents of Sangam Literature (contd…)
► The
love poems are lyrical in
nature.
► Lovers
are nameless, idealized
characters.
► There
are just hero, heroine,
mother, heroine’s friend, hero’s
charioteer, bards figure in the love
poems.
Contents of Sangam Literature (contd…)
► Puram
poems are war poems.
► Heroism is celebrated in these poems.
► It is typified in the concept of Canror
(noble ones).
► In fact the medieval commentators
called the Sangam poetry as “Canror
Ceyyul” (The poetry of the noble ones).
Sangam literature is ‘secular’ in content.
The ideals are to be achieved in this
world.
Akam (Love) Poems
(mountainous tracts) – Premarital
clandestine love.
► Kurinchi
(Pastoral tracts) – Wedded love.
Patient waiting (iruttal) on the part of lovers.
► Mullai
(river valleys) – Wedded love.
Anger (Utal) between the couples due to
hero’s extra-marital affairs.
► Marutam
(Coastal tracts) – Wailing of heroine
due to separation (irankal).
► Neytal
(Barren tracts) – Elopement of lovers,
separation of lovers.
► Palai
Example of Kurinchi Poem
► Kuruntokai
25 (On Premarital clandestine love)
What she said:
Only the thief was there, no one else.
And if he should lie, what can I do?
There was only
a thin-legged heron standing
on legs yellow as millet stems
and looking for lampreys
in the running water
When he took me
Example of Mullai Poem
► What
she said:
These fat Cassia trees
are gullible
The seasons of rains
that he spoke of
when he went through the stones
of the desert
is not yet here
though these trees
Have put out
Long arrangements of flowers
On their twigs
As if for a proper monsoon
(Translation: AK Ramanujan, 1985)
Example of Akam Poem
► Kuruntokai
40
What is my mother to yours?
How is my father related to yours?
And I and you
How did we two meet?
Like the waters of rain pouring down on red soil
The two loving hearts themselves
Blended with each other
Translation: Kamil Zvelebil
Example of Puram Poem
► Purananuru
86
You stand against the pillar
of my hut and ask me:
Where is your son?
I don’t really know.
My womb is only a liar
for that tiger.
You can see him now
only in the battlefields
Translation: AK Ramanujan
Further Readings on Sangam Literature
► K.
Kailasapathy, Tamil Heroic Poetry,
Oxford University Press, 1968.
► A.K.
Ramanujan, Poems of Love and
War: From the eight anthologies and
ten songs of classical Tamil, Oxford
University Press, 1985.
► George
L. Hart, Poets of the Tamil
Anthologies: Ancient Poems of Love
and War, Princeton University Press,
1979.
Tirukkural: ‘The Book of Lofty Wisdom’
► Book
on ethics, politics and love.
► Tiruvalluvar
is the author of Tirukkural.
► According
to Kamil Zvelebil, Tirukkural
should have been written between 450550 CE. (Zvelebil, 1973).
► Tirukkural
has always been in the highest
esteem among the Tamil people.
► No
other work in Tamil literature has as
many commentaries as Tirukkural.
Structure of Tirukkural
► There
are 1330 two lined verses
(couplets)
► There
are 133 chapters with ten
couplets for each chapter
► Tirukkural
is divided into three broad
sections –
 Arattuppal (virtue/ethics)
 Porutppal (economy/polity)
 Inpattuppal (pleasure/love)
Structure of Tirukkural (contd…)
► 38
chapters deal with virtue/ethics
(aram)
► 70
chapters on economic and
political matters (Porul)
► 25
► It
chapters on pleasure/love (inpam)
is composed in Kural venpa metre
Tirukkural : Sanskrit Element
► Comparisons
were often made of
Tirukkural with Arthasastra on matters
relating to economy and polity (Porul).
► Kamil Zvelebil argues that the author of
Tirukkural is undoubtedly to some
extent indebted to Sanskritic sources
like Manavadharmasastra, Arthasastra
and so on.
► “The author was part of one great Indian
ethical and didactic tradition.” (Zvelebil,
1973).
Tirukkural : Tamil Element
► Tirukkural
is non-Sanskritic, preSanskritic ‘Tamil’ in content in matters
relating not only to the chapter on
pleasure/love (Inpam) but also
pragmatic, universal, this-worldly
conception of dharma and niti.
► The section on pleasure/love (inpam) is
heavily derived from the akam poetic
tradition of Sangam literature.
► There is no section on Moksha (Tamil
equivalent Vitu) in Tirukkural.
Further Readings on Tirukkural
Pope, The ‘Sacred’ Kural of
Tiruvalluva-Nayanar, London, 1886.
► G.U.
► V.V.S.
Aiyar, The Kural or the Maxims
of Tiruvalluvar, 3rd edition., V.V.S.
Krishnamurthy (ed.), 1952.
Zvelebil, ‘The Book of Lofty
Wisdom’, in The Smile of Murugan: On
Tamil Literature of South India, Leiden,
1973, pp. 155-171.
► Kamil
From Lyric to Epic :
The Silappadikaram
► The
first epic literature in Tamil.
► Authored
by Ilango Adigal.
between 4th and 6th century CE by
Kamil Zvelebil on historical linguistic basis.
► Dated
► Divided
into three sections with single story
revolving in order from Chola (Puhar),
Pandya (Madurai) and Chera (Vanci) country.
Silappadikaram : The Story of Human Love and
Tragedy
► <>Marriage
of Kovalan and Kannagi
► <>wedded love leading to extramarital
affairs
► <>Kovalan abandons Kannagi & spends
time with Madhavi, a talented
courtesan
► <>Tussle with Madhavi leading to
Kovalan’s disillusionment with her
► <>Returning to lead a life with Kannagi
► <>Kovalan & Kannagi moving to Madurai
to lead a new life
Silappadikaram : The Story of Human Love and Tragedy (contd..)
► <>Goldsmith
in Madurai seize the
opportunity
► <>The Murder of Kovalan on the orders
of Pandyan King
► <>Kannagi proving her innocence
► <>Pandyan King and Queen dies,
Madurai set on fire by Kannagi
► <>She leaves to Vanci, Chera capital,
meet her husband Kovalan in a
divine chariot and both ascend to
heaven.
Features of Silappadikaram
► The
epic celebrates the classical themes of
love and war dealing with both akam and
puram of Sangam literary tradition.
► The
first consciously ‘national’ work of
Tamil literature. The stage for the tale was
three Tamil kingdoms – Chola, Pandya and
Chera.
is a story of ‘human proportions’, of
human love and passion, jealousies,
infidelity, charity and forgiveness.
► It
Kamban’s Iramavataram
► The
Tamil epic reached its climax with
Kamban, the ‘emperor of poets’.
► Scholars
of Tamil literature consider the age of
Kamban to be 12th century CE.
► Kamban’s
Ramayana is no imitation of
Valmiki’s Sanskrit version.
► Though
he modeled the chapters and sections
based on Valmiki’s Ramayana, there is a great
deal of ‘Tamil’ in the treatment of episodes
from the epic.
Kamban’s ‘Tamil’ Ramayana(contd…)
► Kamban
has an episode on premarital love
between Rama and Sita which is absent in
Sanskrit version.
► Kamban
used the aintinai (five fold
geography of classical literary convention)
concept in his description of Ayodhya.
► Kamban’s
Rama is a human being. His ‘Rama
Rajya’ was an egalitarian society without
hierarchy. For Kamban, it is a victory for
human nature.
Further Readings on Tamil Literature
► Kamil
Zvelebil, The Smile of Murugan:
On the Literature of South India, Leiden,
1973.
► S.
Vaiyapuri Pillai, History of Tamil
Language and Literature, Chennai,
1956.
► Francois
Gros, Deep Rivers: Selected
Writings on Tamil Literature,
Pondicherry, 2009.
Thank You